Late yesterday evening (thanks a lot, time zone differentials!), we had a great chat with Mandela Tobin.
Mandela is a young man from San Diego with some big plans for himself and for the Blue Devils. During our chat, we talked about going from San Diego to Durham, the recruiting process, what made him commit to Duke, as well as Mandela’s Nigerian heritage. And, since we were talking about Nigerians who have played football, Christian Okoye’s name came up (I may have mentioned Tecmo Bowl). This was a fun talk with an impressive young man.
Just when you thought it couldn’t get worse, Drew Jordan announced he’s entering the transfer portal. While he’s a senior and, but for COVID-19 and the NCAA’s free year rule, he’d be leaving no matter what, it still hurts to see guys choose not to come back for another season. While Jordan often got overlooked thanks to being on the line with Victor Dimukeje and Chris Rumph, he is very, very good. He was a stalwart on the line and always seemed to be right around the ball. He either made a big play or helped someone else make one.
Drew Jordan is running to figuratively murder the opposing offense.
As if replacing Dimukeje and Derrick Tangelo weren’t enough, we’re down another member of the defensive line. We are now real thin at that position. Duke has done remarkably well of late at finding talent on defense and having it ready to play. Think about how we lost Jeremy Cash and never missed a beat. Ben Albert, the DL coach, may be Coach Cutcliffe’s best hire.
Coach Albert and the rest of the staff have their work cut out for them. Let’s hope they succeed. Go Duke!
You’ve all heard by now that Marquis Waters is leaving Duke. Despite losing a big play maker, the Blue Devils picked up offensive lineman Kade Parmelly and defensive tackle Ja’Mion Franklin (who comes in from Notre Dame) through the portal.
Marquis Waters was one heck of a player. I’m going to miss him.
But, more important than those changes to the roster, it was just announced that Chase Brice, who transferred in to play quarterback last season, is transferring out to play elsewhere next season. That leaves Gunnar Holmberg and Luca Diamont on the QB depth chart. Looks like we’ll finally get to see a mobile quarterback run a mobile quarterback offense.
We may finally get to see Gunnar Holmberg next season.
While Brice leaving is a sigh of relief for most of us as we’d all gotten tired of him turning the ball over, it’s probably a bad look for the program. All the hype of bringing in a major recruit like Brice is dashed against the rocks of reality. When the can’t miss prospect crashed and burned so badly, it doesn’t say a lot for the staff’s ability to recruit and develop talent.
I think this means that Holmberg is more likely to stay. Let’s hope he lives up to the hype. Go Duke!
In addition to losing two players last week, Mark Gilbert is now opting out of the remainder of the season.
Mark Gilbert calmly looking like a man ready to terrorize opposing offenses.
He is going to prepare for the NFL draft and we all hope he makes it. I first saw this news from Stephen Wiseman, one of my favorite reporters. Gilbert opting out is unfortunate, but not unexpected. He’s been hurt for several years now, recently had surgery and can’t afford another injury. His time in Durham is limited and another injury would be devastating for his future. While we will miss Gilbert, we want nothing but the absolute best for him. The man is an absolute legend for overcoming his hip injury and getting back on a college football field.
Please join me in extending your best wishes to Mark Gilbert as he begins the next phase of his career. Go Duke!
In addition, linebacker Brandon Hill is entering the transfer portal. He opted out this season and, given the good play from Duke’s current LBs, this isn’t a surprise. The fact that he’s in the portal doesn’t mean he will leave, it just means that he might leave. We’ll keep an eye on it, but I would bet that he’s gone.
Turning back to Katrenick, my first thought is that I hope he’s OK. This is a scary time and you hope he doesn’t have any health issues. My second thought is that I’m frustrated that he didn’t play more. During the last two seasons he got almost zero playing time while he watched Harris and now Brice hand the ball to the other team on practically every drive. I know that Katrenick wasn’t a big time recruit, but there’s no reason for him not to have been given an opportunity to show what he can do. The fact that he can run makes him a better quarterback for Cutcliffe’s system than Brice. And, since he’s been around for a while, why not give him a quarter or a half to see if he can make something happen? He couldn’t do much worse than 1-5 and he has to know the system pretty well. (I’m not getting into the Gunnar issue in this post. That’s for another day.)
But bold changes aren’t Cutcliffe’s SOP. Hence why the Blue Devils are 1-5 at the moment. Loyalty is admirable, but the dogged stubbornness of Cutcliffe in sticking with Harris and Brice ought to be condemned.
It was one heck of a 72 hours for the Blue Devils. Clemson backup QB Chase Brice and Stanford OT Devery Hamilton visited on Saturday. Then on Sunday, word broke that Brice was coming to Duke. On Monday, Hamilton made the same announcement. What does this mean for the program? The only way to describe it is that these commitments are a big freaking deal.
Hamilton is 6-7 / 300 and from Maryland. He chose Duke over Pittsburgh and Indiana – no small accomplishment for the Blue Devils coaching staff. Hamilton came out of high school as a 4-star recruit which is out of step with the 3-star recruits Duke customarily lands. Hamilton also started at Stanford until the injury bug hit him.
As for Brice, he has two years of eligibility left. He comes to Durham after backing up some pretty good Clemson QBs. I’ve seen different things about Brice coming out of high school. Some list him as a pro-style QB, some say dual-threat. That said, most agree he was a 3-star recruit who isn’t the best runner, but is a smart player. The buzz is overwhelmingly positive. Word is Dabo Swinney really talked him up while he was transferring and the Clemson players love him. Around 30 schools were after Brice including Miami, Maryland and Purdue. He chose Duke.
Let that sink in. He chose Duke.
To ask my earlier question again, what does this mean for Duke? It means there is a talent upgrade and more weapons for Greg Frey, the new OL coach, to work with. It also means there will be a veteran QB to compete with Duke’s young guys, Holmberg and Diamont. This adds a level of excitement to the off-season that hasn’t been present for a while.
But more important, it signals a big change at Duke. These moves to me say that Cutcliffe & Co. are upset with last season’s 5-7 record and are willing to make big changes to prevent that from happening again. Cutcliffe doesn’t want to get caught with a QB who can’t make plays or run the offense consistently. The coaches aren’t okay with more of the same and are willing to take risks to do better. Fortune, as they say, favors the bold.
And with these big changes comes some big responsibility. My very scientific gut tells me that these moves put a lot of pressure on OC Zac Roper. He has a good group of WRs, a well-respected OL coach, some good RBs and three talented QBs (plus Katrenick who I think is better than we realize). While the QBs don’t have a lot of playing experience, I don’t see a lot of excuses for this team. If the offense continues to struggle, Roper is going to have to answer for that.
Duke made investments this off-season. If the results aren’t positive, the program will require more changes. If I’m Roper, I understand this and spend a lot of time upgrading the offense. He needs to review his own performance, figure out what worked and figure out what didn’t. The offense will need to be changed to better fit the talent.
While these 72 hours were a great start, it’s time for Duke to start capitalizing on them.
Duke landed another member of the 2021 class today. Sahmir Hagans, a 3-star WR from Philadelphia, announced that he’s committing to Duke. This brings Duke’s 2021 class to 4. His highlight reel shows that he can catch screen passes, so he’ll fit in great at Duke.
Starting last night and ending today, Duke landed three commits for the 2021 class. Three-star DE Aaron Hall was the first to join the Blue Devils. He was followed today by lineman Andrew Jones and Anthony “Tre” Freeman, a linebacker. All three are from NC. Hall is from South Durham, Jones is from Pfafftown and Freeman is from Northern Durham.
Hall is the gem of the three. He’s a three-star DE/TE. At 6-6/220, he could really make an impact at Duke. Jones looks to be a prospect for new OL coach Greg Frey. Jones also plays on special teams which is always a good thing to see. Freeman, like Jones, is unrated and, like Hall, plays on both sides of the ball. In addition to playing LB, Freeman rushed for over 1,000 yards last season.
While none of these are 4 or 5-star recruits, they chose Duke over schools like Virginia, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest and Louisville (among others). Not a bad start for Duke 2021 recruiting news.
Sorry for being a little late on this one, but the holidays and all…
Just in time for Christmas, Duke got a late recruiting Christmas gift when it managed to flip offensive lineman Addison Penn from BC. Penn is a 6-4/275 center from Southlake, Texas. He committed to BC in June, but decommitted in December. Not long after that, Penn signed at Duke.
This is a good pickup for the Blue Devils, no question about it. What can Penn do? While 247 has him as a 3-star, his highlight reel looks impressive. You can see Penn’s experience with a read-option which is Duke’s base offense (other than runs right up the middle). That will come in handy for whoever is the starting quarterback next year (which is likely to be Luca Diamont since he enrolled early).
In addition to what you see on film, Penn received a first-team all district selection in 2018 which tells you he knows what he’s doing. Will he play this season? It’s possible, but we doubt it. It’s more likely that he starts picking up a lot of playing time in 2021. Why? Let’s examine the roster.
Duke currently has three centers, but starter Jack Wolbaugh is headed into his senior year as is reserve Liam Smith. Factor in Will Taylor, a rising redshirt junior, being on the backside of his time in Durham and you can see how quickly Penn will get an opportunity to play. We expect him to redshirt next season and to get significant playing time after that.
Keep on eye on Penn. We’re hoping he’ll be the next Matt Skura.
The Blue Devils picked up a graduate transfer at the end of the work week. Safety J’Marick Woods will be leaving Michigan to come to Durham. Woods is a 6-3, 210 pounder from Alabama. He came out of high school as a 3-star recruit and had offers from Michigan, LSU, Arkansas, Vanderbilt, Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, Tennessee and, of course, Duke. He played sparingly at Michigan.
The addition of Woods adds depth to the secondary which the Blue Devils always need. The defense under Cutcliffe has typically been a 4-2-5 and there are never enough corners and safeties on the roster. Having Woods may also add another player to the kicking teams. Woods may play there or it may free someone else to play there more. Given how important special teams will be to a team starting a third QB in three seasons, we can’t say enough about how important the kicking game will be.
Welcome to Durham, J’Marick. We’re hoping for a great season from you in 2020!
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Bull City Coordinators - A Duke Football Blog 